In a water distribution system, it is frequently necessary to provide another branch in the system to direct water to a new location for additional users. In order to form the new branch, a tapping sleeve is positioned about the main water line for connecting the main water line to the new branch. A tapping valve is frequently connected between the tapping sleeve and the new branch for regulating water flow in the branch. The main water line is then tapped in a sealed manner allowing water to flow into the branch via the tapping sleeve and the tapping valve combination.
The tapping sleeve is typically comprised of stainless steel or A-36 carbon steel and is attached to the tapping valve by means of a flange welded to the tapping sleeve's branch pipe and connected to the tapping valve by plural nut and bolt combinations. In order to reduce the cost of tapping a water main, tapping valves having a mechanical joint are increasingly being used in combination with the tapping sleeve. The use of a tapping valve with a mechanical joint standardizes the tapping valve/tapping sleeve connection and avoids the requirement for specially designed tapping valves which are expensive and frequently in scarce supply. In some cases, a stainless steel flange is incorporated in the tapping sleeve for connection to the flanged joint of the tapping valve. While reducing the cost of the connection by using a mechanical joint tapping valve, commonly known as an MJ×MJ tapping valve, this arrangement also tends to increase the cost of the tapping sleeve/tapping valve connection by requiring the passivation, i.e., acid washing of the welded stainless steel, of the entire tapping sleeve/flange combination.
In order to avoid the cost of incorporating a coupling flange in a tapping sleeve for connection to the mechanical joint of a tapping valve, some approaches use a metal gland attached to the tapping sleeve and adapted for connection to a flange on the tapping valve. These types of glands are typically positioned on the tapping sleeve using plural spaced projections disposed on and about the branch pipe. Plural spaced recesses disposed on an inner portion of the gland are each adapted to engage one of the aforementioned projections for fixedly positioning the gland on the branch pipe. The gland is then connected to the tapping valve by means of plural nut and bolt combinations, as is conventional. In this arrangement, positioning the gland on the branch pipe and connecting the gland to the tapping sleeve is done with some difficulty, particularly where access is limited as in excavated underground locations where these types of water system tapping sleeves are most commonly used. In addition, the orientation of the gland and tapping valve combination is fixed on the branch pipe by the location of the spaced projections thereon. This typically results in non-vertical orientation of the attached tapping valve when the main water line is not level, or horizontal. Because the tapping valve is typically buried at a depth on the order of 6 feet, manipulating a non-vertical tapping valve to control water flow by means of an extension pipe with an attached stem nut inserted through a conduit extending from the surface of the ground down to the tapping valve is very difficult, and frequently impossible.
Another approach employs a metal ring fixedly attached to the outer surface of the branch pipe and disposed between the tapping sleeve's gland and the tapping valve's flange and engaging the joint's seal, or gasket. The metal ring is typically formed by stamping or by plasma cutting and is welded to the branch pipe in a typically time-consuming process. The cost of these operations constitutes a substantial portion of the manufacturing expense of the mechanical joint coupling.
The present invention avoids the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by providing a tapping sleeve for forming a sealed connection with a mechanical joint tapping valve. The connection includes plural spaced projections attached to a branch pipe about its outer periphery in combination with a circular gasket also disposed about the branch pipe and in contact with the projections. A two-piece split gland is also disposed on the branch pipe and engages the projections and is adapted for secure connection to the tapping valve's mechanical joint by means of a flange and plural nut and bolt combinations to form a sealed connection between the tapping valve and branch pipe.